Fountain in St. Pancras Old Church Gardens

This drinking fountain is located in the gardens of St. Pancras Old Church, Camden Town, Greater London, U.K. It was manufactured by Andrew Handyside and Co. of Derby, England and is design number 48 in the 1877 catalogue.

Resting on a circular concrete plinth, the cylindrical structure with attic base supports a three tiered acroter. Six fluted columns and decorative volutes support a cupola with Neptune mask frieze. A solid dome is surmounted by a sculptured basin. The apex is a finial of a putto carrying an urn on his shoulder. The font itself consists of a shallow fluted urn which has been capped.

It was manufactured for William Thornton, a senior church warden of St. Pancras, and gifted to the church on 22 August 1877. It was listed a grade II English Heritage building in 1998.

For the trivia buffs, it is interesting to note that on Sunday, July 28th 1968, whilst recording the White Album, The Beatles and several cameramen spent the day at random locations all over London. This outing became known as the Mad Day Out. The Beatles were photographed at the fifth location, the drinking fountain, spitting water at the camera lenses.

Glossary

• Acroter, a flat base
• Attic base, A column base with two rings
• Cupola, A small, domed structure on top of a roof
• Finial, A sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Frieze, The horizontal part of a classical entablature just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
• Putto, A figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude
• Volute, a spiral scroll-like ornament found in the capital of a column

 

Fountain in St. Pancras Old Church Gardens Creative Commons License, Christine Matthews

Fountain in St. Pancras Old Church Gardens Creative Commons License, Andrea Kirby

Fountain in St. Pancras Old Church Gardens Used with permission, Silver Tiger http://tigergrowl.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/natural-park-and-old-church/

Fountain in St. Pancras Old Church Gardens Paul McArtney at the drinking fountain 1968

Sources:

http://friargatebridge.blogspot.ca/2012/01/drinking-fountain-in-st-pancras-old.html

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFBT4_The_Mad_Day_Out_St_Pancras_Gardens_Fountain_Pancras_Road_London_UK

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-477699-drinking-fountain-approximately-36-metre

http://tigergrowl.wordpress.com/2013/02/17/natural-park-and-old-church/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/victorianlondon/5707649689/in/pool-1531851@N22

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Water_Fountain,_St_Pancras_Old_Church,_London_-_geograph.org.uk_-_315380.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreakirkby/2174310611/

http://londonbeatles.webege.com/st_pancras.php